At age 13 I found my Dad's banjo in the attic. It took me 3 years to figure out you can't play folk music on a 4 string. I took my banjo to the seminary and learned to entertain because we only had 2 choices: singing or hockey. I took 10 years off from playing banjo to try to become an adult. When that failed, I decided instead to learn to play the banjo well. I enrolled in the Old Town School of Folk Music and in a short time became an instructor as well as a student, studying banjo and voice. Several years passed and fate brought me to a small Midwestern city, Galesburg, where I was introduced to bluegrass music and Larry Diemer. We found we could harmonize and have fun. We learned Irish music mainly because we missed the great St. Patrick's Day celebrations from our home town of Chicago. We now know enough Irish songs to choke a leprechaun.